Texas: Marsha Fishman

September 27, 2012

My name is Marsha Fishman and I’ve lived in Texas most of my life. I’d always been a little bit political but nothing to the extent of what I’m doing now.

I believe President Obama when he says change starts with us. Yes, we can elect whomever we want, but it’s also our job to go out there, stand with them, and fight for them. It’s up to us. I’ve done more and more each year. For months, I’ve been hosting a phone bank each weekend. Telephone calls are how volunteers in Texas can help re-elect the President. I host phone banks, volunteers come, and for months we’ve been making calls to Florida. So when we win Florida on November 6th, we’ll all know that we played a part in that.

I started volunteering for the Obama campaign in 2008, and after the election, we all thought it was over, but then we got an email asking if we’d stay on board and continue to volunteer for the President. I stayed on board, as did many others across the country, and we kept doing everything we could over the next four years—making calls and going door to door to talk to people about all of President Obama’s great work. When the Affordable Care Act passed, we all felt like we had a part in it. That meant a lot to me personally, because it could make a difference to my son. He’s had a chronic illness since he was a small child, and now he doesn’t need to worry about his pre-existing condition. My mother was worried about the cost of her medication and she fell into that “doughnut hole.” Now they both have peace of mind. Some people like Mitt Romney feel like people can just go to the emergency room, but emergency rooms aren’t free—that’s obviously not a plan folks can afford.

I have a wonderful family and wonderful grandkids and I want them to have an America that they can be proud of. I have a very blessed life, but it’s not just about me. We need a president fighting for all of us. I know Barack Obama wakes up every day thinking about how he can help the middle class. He’s the president the United States needs for the next four years. I feel working for him is really working for the country.

My favorite part of volunteering is when someone new comes to lend a hand. We get new volunteers all the time, often people who have never been involved before. They’re a little apprehensive at first, but they’re welcomed with open arms and they become part of our volunteer family. And of course I love registering new voters. I’ve been to naturalization ceremonies in Dallas, and moments after dozens of people become citizens, we register the new citizens to vote. It’s always very touching. I also believe in getting young people involved and registered. A friend of mine just organized a countywide high school voter registration drive for National Voter Registration Day; I spent four hours at a local high school registering students to vote.

The biggest challenge here in Texas is that some people are convinced that we can’t make a difference so they’ve given up. I believe that we can make a difference. Everything we’re doing in the state is building a foundation for the future. We’ve got some big changes to make for our children. One day Texas will be a battleground state. It’s not there yet, but it’ll get there.

So I’m going to keep hosting phone banks every Saturday morning until Election Day. And every evening, I’m going to continue making calls myself using the call tool on Dashboard. Florida needs us to keep making those calls. Dallas County has a goal of 15,000 calls per week and my volunteers and I help make sure that we achieve that goal every week and even exceed it!